Lonely Planet has new guidebook series: Trips

I rarely leave for a trip without consulting Lonely Planet first and I love little more than heading off on a roadtrip, so I’m thrilled to learn that Lonely Planet is launching a new series of guidebooks in March called “Trips.”

The first six titles in the series are “California,” “Pacific Northwest,” “Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon,” “New York, Washington DC & the Mid-Atlantic,” “The Carolinas, Georgia & the South,” and “New England.”

Each $20 paperback offers 50 to 68 itineraries and more than 1,000 places to see, organized by themes like “Food & Drink,” “Outdoors,” “History & Culture,” “Offbeat” and “City.”

The books also outline trips by season, trips that can be done any time of year, “iconic” trips, day trips from cities, and classic routes. Routes outlined in the Arizona and New Mexico guide include Route 66, the “Turquoise Trail” between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway, a 105-mile trip between Truth or Consequences and Silver City, N.M.

“Iconic” trips in the New York, Washington and Mid-Atlantic guide cover everything from Gettysburg and the Appalachian Trail to the Statue of Liberty and the White House. An “Outdoors” itinerary for New Jersey includes the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival in October, the Batona Trail in the Pinelands National Reserve, and canoe trips on the Mullica River. A “Food & Drink” itinerary for Maryland is the “Crab Quest,” with recommendations for Baltimore eateries that include Waverly Crabs & Seafood and LP Steamers, Cantler’s just outside Annapolis, Stoney’s on Broome’s Island, and Harris Crab House in the Kent Narrows on the Eastern Shore.

The Pacific Northwest book includes itineraries for “Cowboys & Kerouac: The North Cascades,” with a section on the hard-to-reach Desolation Peak, where Jack Kerouac spent 63 days writing in isolation in 1953, and a recommendation for Sun Mountain Lodge near Winthrop, where you can take a horse trip and enjoy a cowboy cookout. The book’s list of offbeat attractions includes the Oregon Vortex, known for its optical illusions; a building shaped like a giant teapot near Zillah, Wash., and the World Class Chainsaw Carving Competition held each September in Hope, British Columbia.

Ellen Barone has been creating words and images for travel and tourism since 1998. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".